Occupy Birmingham march set for today

Occupy Birmingham, a local extension of the month long Occupy Wall Street movement, will lead a march this afternoon from Railroad Park to Five Points South, organizers said.

It is one of many similar demonstrations that will be held today across the United States and as far away as Europe and Australia as part of the International Day of Occupation, said Allyn Hudson, an organizer with Occupy Birmingham.

The event, which starts at 2 p.m., is Occupy Birmingham's latest show of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

A rally Sunday at Brother Bryan Park drew a crowd of 250, Hudson said, and more than 170 people attended an Oct. 6 rally at Railroad Park. Hudson said he expects several hundred people to participate in today's march.

The movement is fueled by a desire to reduce the influence of corporations on the government and for an investigation into what role big business played in the nation's economic crisis, Hudson said.

"Our ultimate goal is to recognize corporations are not people and to get them out of our democratic process. Money is not free speech," Hudson said in reference to a U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting the government from banning corporations from contributing to political campaigns.

Four Occupy Birmingham members who carried signs, sang songs and handed out fliers outside the downtown Wells Fargo and Regions bank offices Friday afternoon said it's a message that resonates with young people who are having a hard time finding work.

As men and women in business suits shuffled past them, they said they believed the movement gives a voice to those who would otherwise be silenced by government and large corporations.

"Our government has been sold to the corporations," said 32-year-old Birmingham resident Aisha Zulu. "People might disagree, but that's the way it feels to me."

Chris Nelson, a 30-year-old Montevallo resident, said he was drawn to Occupy Birmingham, in part, because he is one of millions of Americans who are out of work.

"Young people feel like their voices aren't being heard," Nelson said. "It's the same for the unemployed, the working poor, the elderly."

Although the occasional driver honked a car horn in support, the group said Friday they had encountered misconceptions and outright hostility.

An employee of one of the banks spent 40 minutes telling them why she thought they were wrong, Zulu said. Some called them anarchists or Marxists, Nelson said.

"Some people don't appreciate us being out here," Zulu said. "We don't take it personally. They're just as stressed about their jobs as everyone else."